


Small Towns, Spinsters, and Social Taboos

by Heidzzz



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - 1950s, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Endgame Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, F/F, I am Supercorp Trash, Slow Burn Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, bruce/lena bromance, gay batman
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:21:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22457146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heidzzz/pseuds/Heidzzz
Summary: Lena's mother wants the best for her daughter: a wealthy husband, a houseful of children, and a two story house with a white picket fence. Lena, well Lena doesn't want that. She wants to go to school, make a living on her own and never stand behind a man. There's got to be more women like her right?ORthe 1950s AU that won't leave my brain alone
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 4
Kudos: 40





	Small Towns, Spinsters, and Social Taboos

Lena slipped on one of the seven dresses she had pulled out of her closet. Her mother had told her in no uncertain terms that she was to look her best for the party tonight. Lillian had invited every eligible bachelor in a fifty-mile radius. No daughter of hers was to be a spinster. Lena scoffed at the thought of her mother setting her up.

She was barely 18, far from a spinster. And what was wrong with being a spinster? She had no qualms being completely independent. She never wanted to depend on a man. No, she was perfectly fine with going to work, making her own money, living on her own. She had never dreamt of being the perfect housewife and raising some man’s children all day. However, that was what was expected of her. Her mother insisted she married some wealthy man, bear at least six of his children, and keep his house clean.

Lena rolled her eyes as she looked at herself in her full-length mirror. The deep green sheath dress she had chosen fit snugly over her curves. It was so tight that it edged on the line of being inappropriate. She smirked. Yes, this is perfect she thought to herself. A small rebellion against her mother. If she was going to be paraded around like a piece of meat, then she was damn well going to look the part. Glancing at the clock in her room, she noted she had only 30 minutes until guests were supposed to arrive. She started doing her eye make up, making it a bit darker than what her mother would approve of. She was powdering her nose when a knock on her door startled her.

“Miss Luthor, Mrs. Luthor asked me to remind you that the guests will be arriving at 6 sharp and for you to be ready and in the foyer to accept them,” Eve, the housemaid, said as she cracked the door. “Oh, wow Miss. You sure do look pretty.”

“Thank you, Eve. Please inform my mother that I’ll be downstairs on time,” Lena replied, rolling her eyes. “Right after I stab myself in the eye with this mascara pencil so I can get out of this whole thing,” she continued under her breath. Eve hid an amused smile behind her hand.

“Yes, Miss Luthor.”

“Eve, how many times must I tell you to call me Lena?”

“Sorry, Mis- I mean Lena,” Eve replied. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“No, thank you. I’ll see you shortly,” Lena said dismissively. Lena liked Eve. They were almost the same age, Eve just being one year older than her. She was very competent, well mannered, and Lena considered her a friend at this point. Her mother had hired Eve a little over a year ago. Even when she had admonished Lena for fraternizing with “the help”, Lena still had always gone out of her way to spend time with Eve and would speak with her while Eve completed her daily chores. Lena wasn’t much of a gossip, but she did enjoy listening to the stories that Eve told about random townspeople.

The town of Midvale was a small farming town. The Luthor Manor sat on the outskirts of town. It was a large Victorian-style manor with dark grey walls, climbing ivy covering the majority of them. It was almost castle-like in its appearance. Lena’s grandfather had it built right before the Wall Street Crash of ‘29. She came from old money. Her great-great-grandfather had had his hands in multiple dealings, mostly in weapons and other military equipment. When the Depression hit her family didn’t see many consequences, unlike many other people.

Lena’s family wasn’t exactly a favorite around Midvale. Her mother and father never minded showing off their wealth and that never sat well with most folks. The lavish parties they threw, were rarely attended by townspeople. A few of the local socialites always attended but most of the guests were from the city. The parties were always quite the affair. They were completely catered by a few well-known chefs from the city, superfluous decorations around the house and back patio, and only the creme de la creme got on the invite list.

Lena just knew that the men her mother had invited tonight while being from wealthy families, would just be smug, arrogant fops. She had no interest in being around any of them.

At precisely 5:58, Lena made her way out of her room and down the stairs and into the foyer where Lillian was already, giving stern orders to a housemaid. As the housemaid bustled away to do whatever inconsequential task asked of her, Lillian turned to Lena and took in her dress.

“Where are your gloves?” Lillian hissed quietly as the doorbell chimed loudly. Lena only shrugged in response. “Do not shrug, Lena. It portrays laziness and it’s very unbecoming.” Lillian turned towards the door as the butler opened the door to the first guests to arrive and her expression changed immediately.

“Mr. and Mrs. Wayne! How lovely it is to have you join us. And you’ve brought Bruce! Wonderful! Bruce, dear, you’ve grown into quite a dapper young man, haven’t you? Have you met our daughter Lena? Lena say hello.”

“Hello,” Lena said holding her hand out to shake Bruce’s. She looked over the debonair looking man.

“Lena, take them into the dining room darling. Have Eve make them some drinks, we will join you all shortly.”

Lena turned on heel and walked delicately through the hallway towards the dining room. Entering the dining room she offered Bruce and his parents something to drink and sat down at the large ornate dinner table. She delicately drank from the mint julep that Eve had made for her and tried to listen to her father and Mr. Wayne discuss business. Bruce sat quietly next to her. Maybe he wasn’t as bad as she had first assumed.

“My mother told me you were starting university this fall, what do you plan on studying?” Lena asked. Bruce looked up, looking slightly surprised she was speaking to him.

“Oh, um, interior design,” Bruce replied shyly, looking down at his hands. Lena’s eyebrows raised at the answer. She wasn’t expecting Mr. Wayne’s only son to go into a field such as interior design. She had imagined he would follow in his father’s footsteps and get a degree in business or finance.

Mr. Wayne owned most of the coal-fired public power stations on the West Coast. Interior designers were nowhere near that caliber. Bruce must’ve seen the surprise on Lena’s face because he leaned over and lowered his voice. “They don’t know yet. They think I’m going into go into business,” he whispered, glancing over at his parents. “There’s plenty of things they don’t know about me,” he added sadly. Lena just gave him a confused look.

As more guests arrived, everyone started to migrate to the ballroom, where a string band was set up in the corner of the room. A few older couples started dancing, but Lena stayed near the wall for the most part. She would answer questions politely when asked, chime in on a little bit of small talk. Her mother was completely in her element, schmoozing all of the women in the room, dishing the latest gossip. Lena managed to avoid her for quite a while until some latecomers showed up about an hour after the party had begun.

“Lena, darling. This is Mr. and Mrs. Jeremiah Danvers, Clark Kent’s aunt and uncle.

“Hello, how do you do?” Lena replied automatically.

“I’m well, thank you for asking,” Jeremiah replied. “We came with our daughters, Alexandra and Kara tonight. Unfortunately, Clark couldn’t make it tonight. He sends his regards.”

“That’s a shame, Lena was looking forward to meeting him,” Lillian replied. Lena shot her a look.

“It was lovely meeting you, I’m going to go find Bruce and see if he would like to dance.” Lena excused herself from the group and walked to the back entrance where she had spotted Bruce earlier. Stepping outside, she walked up to Bruce and placed her hand on his arm.

“Hey.”

“My mother is trying to set me up with someone here tonight and you are pretty much the only person that I’ve met so far that’s tolerable. Will you dance with me, just to get my mother off my back?” Lena blurted out in a rush.

Bruce stared at her in mild shock. Once everything she had said registered, he snickered. “Oh, that’s golden. I’m pretty sure the only reason my parents insisted on coming here tonight was to make me find a nice gal,” he said making air quotation marks. Bruce laughed a bit louder. “No offense, but you aren’t exactly my type.”

Lena presses against her chest in mock offense. “Well, excuse me. You’re not exactly a knight in shining armor either, Wayne.”

“You’re just too much of a woman for my tastes,” Bruce replied jokingly. Lena raised her eyebrow. He wasn’t saying what she thought was he? He leaned closer and whispered, “that’s to say you are a woman at all, my tastes are a bit more masculine than you can pull off, I’m afraid.”

Lena’s jaw almost dropped. “You’re gay!” she hissed. Bruce glanced around nervously at the empty patio.

“Yes, but do you mind not screaming that? That’s not exactly something I need to be broadcasted.”

“Sorry, sorry. I’m just surprised. I don’t have any problems with it, just shocked. I mean, you’re very handsome.”

“Thank you, I think? I’m not sure that my sexuality has anything to do with my outward appearance though.”

“Oh gosh, I’m making a fool of myself. Of course, it doesn’t. I didn’t mean anything by that.”

“So, how about it, Luthor? Let’s make both our parents happy and go dance?” Bruce asked holding out his hand for her to grab.

“Sounds dandy, let's go.”

They headed into the ballroom and started dancing on the floor for a few songs together. Lena noticed her mother beaming at the two of them and she had to bite back a laugh at how utterly wrong her mother’s assumption was.

After about the fourth song, Lena was out of breath and needed a break. She tapped Bruce on the shoulder and gestured that she was going to go get a drink.

She walked into the dining room and up to the bar where a short brunette woman around her age was talking to what appeared to be a man in dress trousers, dress shirt, fedora, and suspenders. A group of middle-aged women near the door were “quietly” gossiping.

“I just can’t believe her parents let her out dressed like that.”

“That’s not appropriate for any woman.”

“Pants are for gardening and work, what does she think she’s doing.”

Lena was thoroughly confused by the gossip until the man in suspenders turned around and she saw that it wasn’t a man at all. It was a woman. A completely stunning woman with golden blonde hair, striking blue eyes, and a smile that could put the sun to shame. Lena had to physically stop her mouth from falling open.

The brunette next to the blonde noticed Lena’s reaction and glared at Lena. “Can we help you?” she asked Lena sarcastically.

“Oh, no. I’m just trying to get a drink,” Lena replied gesturing uselessly at the bar.

“Hi! I’m Kara,” the blonde said introducing herself to Lena. Lena blushed at the sudden attention.

“Lena Luthor, this is my party- well it’s my mother’s party.”

“Oh, golly. You have an amazing home, Lena!”

“Th-thank you. I, uh, I like your hat,” Lena said inwardly cringing at how lame she sounded.

“Oh, thanks. Alex said I shouldn’t have worn it because it’s too masculine and ladies should wear dresses and gloves, not trousers and shirts. But these are just so much more comfortable. What do you think?” Kara explained excitedly.

“I think you look very nice,” Lena replied quietly, shooting a small glare at the women who were just gossiping about Kara.

“Do you wanna dance?” Kara asked excitedly.

“Oh, um, I don’t think so. I just came to get a drink.”

Kara’s face fell a little at the rejection. “Oh well if you change your mind, I’ll be on the dance floor. It was great meeting you, Lena Luthor.”

“Nice to meet you as well,” Lena mumbled as Kara and Alex left her at the bar. “Mint Julep, please,” she said to Eve.

Eve started making her drink but kept looking at her knowingly.

“What’s the face for, Eve?”

“Oh, nothing Miss Luthor. She was rather handsome though. Don’t ya think?”

Lena glanced through the doors to the ballroom, catching sight of Kara dancing goofily next to Bruce and Alex. “Yeah. Yeah, she is.”


End file.
